Wikipedia Begins Annual Fundraising Drive

By LONNIE BROWNTHE LEDGER

Friday

Nov 30, 2012 at 11:20 PM

It is the holiday season, a time during which all sorts of organizations seek donations — even electronic organizations. And that is why the yellow box with black text started popping up on a Wikipedia screens this week. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, and the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation operates it.

It is the holiday season, a time during which all sorts of organizations seek donations — even electronic organizations.

And that is why the yellow box with black text started popping up on a Wikipedia screens this week. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, and the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation operates it.

With a staff of 150, Wikipedia has become the fifth-most-visited website in the world. It is published in 285 languages, and has more than 24 million articles. Those articles are written, edited and maintained by a global volunteer community numbering about 80,000.

But Wikipedia, said founder Jimmy Wales, also has "costs like any other top site: servers, power, rent, programs, staff and legal help."

The site doesn't "run ads because doing so would sacrifice our independence. The site is not and should never be a propaganda tool. We take no government funds. We run on donations."

Which brings us back to the point of the yellow box. More than 450 million people use Wikipedia every month. The service is supported through donations. And this week, the ninth annual fund drive started. It will run through the end of the year.

"Wikipedia is the only major website supported not by advertising, but by donations from readers," said Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation.

"Ordinary people use Wikipedia and they like it, so they chip in some cash so it will continue to thrive," she added. "That maintains our independence and lets us focus solely on providing a useful public service. I am so grateful to our donors for making that possible."

The yellow box at the top of a Wikipedia webpage suggests: "If everyone reading this gave the price of a cup of coffee, our fundraiser would be done within an hour. If Wikipedia is useful to you, take one minute to keep it online another year. We just need three-tenths of one percent of readers to donate an average of about $30. We're not there yet. Please help us forget fundraising and get back to Wikipedia. Thank you."

The annual fund drive is the main money raiser for the foundation. Last year, $20 million was raised from more than one million donors from nearly every country in the world. This year's goal is $25 million.

Donations can be made by credit/debt card, PayPal, or through an Amazon account. The donation website can be reached through this link: www.tinyurl.com/DonateWiki2013. Checks can be sent to: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 98204, Washington, DC 20090-8204.

[ Lonnie Brown has written the computer column for The Ledger for more than 30 years. He can be reached by e-mail at LedgerDatabase@aol.com. ]

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